Nico Hulkenberg to leave Williams

Nico Hulkenberg has said today that he will be leaving the Williams team for the 2011 season onwards. This comes only two weeks after he obtained his first ever pole position at the Brazilian GP.

On his official website, he said:

I heavily regret that, because I would have been happy to
stay with Williams. I want to thank the team for a great
time and I wish Williams all the best for the future.

However, his manager Willi Weber, who used to manage Michael Schumacher, has said that Nico will definitely be driving for another team for the 2011 season. It is heavily suspected that the man to replace him at Williams will be Pastor Maldonado, the current GP2 champion.

While Hulkenberg has already said he doesn’t want to drive for Hispania, he will take part in testing with them this Wednesday.

Nico Hulkenberg will be leaving Williams this year

Although Nico scored 22 points this season, compared to seasoned veteran team-mate Rubens Barrichello, who took 47, I’m surprised at this decision. His pole position in Brazil was hugely impressive, and he has been improving steadily over the second half of this season.

But, as it seems to do too much these days, money talks, and Maldonado brings a huge sponsorship package from Venezuelan oil giant PDVSA.